Hero of Our Time
by The Empty Lord
Summary: In the modern world, the heroes of Hyrule fight to prevent monsters from hurting modern society. In the process, they struggle to adapt to the new technology and lifestyle of the new millenium. Though they have succeeded in protecting us for many years, things take a turn for the worse when an evil shadow returns to the world... ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
1. Ancient Hyrule

**A/N: This story is AU. It doesn't follow the Zelda timeline closely, and it is not based off of any particular game. However, all of the characters appear in either Ocarina of Time or Skyward Sword. There may be spoilers, but probably not anything major or too specific. Updates will come… whenever I can make them come. I have more than this typed up already and the entire story already in my head, so I'm aiming for weekly updates, but that might not happen. The story won't be terribly long, but it certainly isn't short. A slightly educated guess says 50k words, finished in late August. We will see. **

When people start a story with the words 'once upon a time', it suggests a tale of heroes, princesses, fairies, and evil warlocks. It brings to mind a time where knights did battle with vile monsters to save their medieval kingdoms and distressed princesses. Most of all, it suggests a time full of magic and wizardry. This is why 'once upon a time' is perfectly applicable to the tale of Ancient Hyrule.

Once upon a time, Ancient Hyrule was the largest kingdom upon the face of the earth. Founded and governed by the ageless and wise Princess Zelda, Hyrule stood proud as the kingdom chosen by the goddesses. Containing forests, seas, desert, mountains, and great, grassy plains, it was much vaster than any other domain of the time period. It included a diverse range of species not limited to humans; Hyrule was governed by the elf-like Hylian and housed creatures as diverse as the rock eating Gorons, the fish-like Zoras, the seductive desert Gerudos, and the childish Kokiri, spirits of the forest. Hyrule grew and grew until it was the envy of its neighbors. One of these jealous neighbors, the evil sorcerer Ganondorf, led an attack on Hyrule. In the confusion of battle, the Evil King seized an artifact of the gods for himself. With this artifact, the Triforce of Power, Ganondorf besieged Hyrule with his army of monsters for decades. Not even the powerful sages or the Princess herself could defeat the Evil King.

In the many instances that it seemed Hyrule was destined to fall, a young man would come forth seemingly from thin air. This Hero ofTime, Link, stood against insurmountable odds and took possession of the Sword of Evil's Bane. The hero would plunge through enemy armies and strongholds time and time again to do battle with the Evil King. Each time, the Evil King ended up retreating, but with each battle, Link weakened him more and more. During one of their most spectacular fights, Link stabbed Ganondorf directly between the eyes and drove him to his knees. Despite this tremendous blow, Ganon was nowhere close to dead and attempted to rise once more. It was then that the six sages of Hyrule and Princess Zelda banished Ganondorf into the rift between dimensions and locked the gate with a spell that was designed to last forever.

Free of the madness of the Evil King, Hyrule once more began to grow rapidly. It consumed the neighboring kingdoms of Termina and Gerudon and started to conquer islands in the nearby Great Sea. The demon army, now led by the demon Ghirahim, lacked the strength, numbers, and powerful leadership that it had during Ganon's reign and was easily kept away by the hero Link and his sidekick Groose. With expansion and peace front and center, Hyrule began to enter another golden age.

However, Hyrule was no longer the kingdom chosen by the goddesses. Magic started dying out at an expedited rate and all species save for humans began to go extinct. The humans realized that they were now the vast majority and staged a rebellion to create an all human government. As the army prepared to fight the rebellion, the Princess received words from the goddesses and abdicated the throne. In return, the Princess and what remained of the old government would work with the new human government to prevent the rise of the monster army for as long as it threatened the new country.

Thousands of years passed from the fall of Ancient Hyrule, and the government in charge of what was once the kingdom changed multiple times. In the time of our story, it is now the government of the United States of America that presides over what was once the kingdom chosen by the gods. Most of the people living in it believed that the stories of the ancient kingdom were exaggerated and that magic and monsters never really existed. However, a secret department of the government still exists; known to high level government agents as the Department of Monster Defense, it is run by Princess Zelda and the six sages. Along with the assistance of on call members Link and Groose, the department works to prevent monsters and magical artifacts from being discovered and magically alter the memories of any who have witnessed more than the should have. Since the beginning, Zelda and her allies have succeeded in this task, but this time things begin to unravel. The deterioration of the relationship of Link and Zelda, along with the diminishing numbers of workers in the department has begun to make things uncomfortable at best. This is a story of the return of a dark shadow and perhaps the fall of the world… this is story of the Hero of Our Time.

**A/N: Reviews make the author happy! Flame if you want, though I do prefer constructive criticism; it allows me know this has been read!**


	2. Enter Groose

Every town has that one store that very few people venture into. The teenagers declare that it is a store for old people only, yet the senior citizens have no interest in visiting it. In a small town of Smithville in Ohio, this particular store was known as "Hyrule Castle", and it sold odds and ends relating to the Ancient Kingdom of Hyrule. From hand carved wooden dolls of the sages and other characters from Hyrulian mythology to an item advertised as the real skull of a Keese, an ancient bat creature that was used in the monster hordes of legend, the store was loaded with dust collectors fitting for a souvenir. While such a town might have done well in the many tourist locations for the old kingdom, it wasn't very popular in an ordinary town like Smithville. With very little business, some people wondered how it even managed to stay open. Some deemed it to be a front for a drug ring, while others decided it must get money from the government in some way. The most common theory was that it was privately owned by an eccentric millionaire… which actually turned out to be true.

At three o'clock in the afternoon during one gorgeous spring day, a customer was seen entering the shop. Oddly, it was a teenager, part of the age group that denounced it for being a store for old people and often vandalized it in the darkest hours of night. Stranger still was the observation that the young lady who had entered the store had done so twice before in the same week. Just as she did the last time she had entered the store, she began to browse among the various knickknacks the store offered.

Standing behind the sales desk in the one space that was clear of merchandise was a giant of a man. He easily stood six feet and six inches tall, and was broad to match. The man was perhaps in his early twenties and had his shirt removed during a rigorous workout session with two fifty pound dumbbells. Sweat coursed down his body, which seemed to be oiled in the same way people were in action movies when they wanted their muscles to show to the audience. His most notable feature was his red hair; it was sleeked back in a pompadour, a style that was very uncommon for the time period. With obnoxiously loud action music blaring in the background, the worker was immersed in his workout.

Most people, speculating based off of his lack of interest in the shop around him, would have thought that this was a minor employee hired to run the sales desk. They would have surmised that his lack of attentiveness was something he usually could get away with because the shop was never busy. An older person who saw the scene would likely have come to the conclusion that he was some obnoxious, young punk who would get fired as soon as the owner found out about his blatant disregard for the store.

The person who guessed this couldn't be further from the truth.

This 'store clerk' was none other than Groose, friend of the Hero of Time and co-owner of the store. He had fought in the war against the villainous Ganondorf and had even engaged in a duel with Ghirahim. Though he had barely walked away from the latter encounter alive, he had been gifted by the goddesses to be ageless. Unlike some of those the goddess gave this gift to, he intended to use it.

Groose suddenly switched off his music and gently placed his weights to the floor. While wiping himself of with a towel, he asked the girl who was now staring intently at a replication of Majora's Mask, "Hey, I remember you. Weren't you here browsing earlier this week? We looooove repeat customers!" Groose punctuated his statement with a small wink.

Flustered, the teenager hurriedly put down the mask and replied, "Oh, errr… I am. I was here twice, actually. It's a pretty neat place." Her red cheeks now matched the color of Groose's hair.

Groose continued on, "Yeah, it is. Too bad most people our age don't think so. I can only recognize you because very few people ever come in here… and because you're rather pretty."

Once more, Groose gave a small wink and watched as the girl blushed again. Then he continued on, "We have a small sale going on. Anything in the store is 10% off its marked price. And… now that I think about it, I don't remember ever buying anything. Is there anything you're looking for? Anything outside of checking out my muscles, of course. I know that's what you've been doing!"

The teenager was so red now that it looked like she would faint. She was actually rather shy, and hadn't thought she'd been caught. This whole situation was foreign to her and she eyed the door. She stammered out, "U-uh, yeah, I'm l-l-looking for a p-p-present for my m-m-m-mom. But I have to g-go now."

Groose gave one more wink as the girl hurried for the door, and he called out, "Well, could you hold up a minute? I haven't even gotten a name! How about a phone number or a…" Groose was abruptly shut up by sound of the door slamming. He sighed loudly with the knowledge that he had missed his chance… and he had more work ahead of him. That was completely unnatural for a door to make that loud of a noise when it closed. He would need to check that out.

The young redhead's thoughts were cut off as soon as he heard a voice from the back room say, "Do you have to do that?" Groose's reaction to the voice was immediate. Though it was his best friend talking, Groose responded as if a military officer had just given him an order. It wasn't often that Link spoke, and it was fewer still that he had such a serious tone of voice. Groose hastily pulled on a yellow T-Shirt that matched his black jeans and walked into the back, employee only room to find his friend Link stretched out on a couch watching a program on Ancient Hyrule on a historical channel on his TV. Link didn't wear the clothes that marked him as the famous hero of time, instead opting for a light green jumpsuit and dark green beanie.

Groose's reply to his friend was typically sarcastic. "Do what? Improve customer relations? Ever wonder why we don't have any customers? We treat them all like dirt! I was only trying to… oh alright. I won't flirt with the customers anymore. At least, not as often as before."

Groose's sudden change in response was caused by a glare from Link. Link often preferred to let his eyes and facial expressions do the talking in the place of his voice. The glare he sent to Groose clearly indicated no argument would be tolerated. While Groose would have continued on with his premeditated speech with most people regardless of a mere glance, he had too much respect for Link to continue. They had fought together countless times and had become the best of friends. After Groose finished his speech, Link rolled his eyes. There would be no way to stop Groose from being a total flirt with anyone of the opposite gender. Groose will be Groose, Link supposed. If Groose stopped flirting as often, it was a victory for Link.

Groose, after a minute's pause, said, "Well, besides. I'm not as bad as you used to be when you had a fan club back in the good old days…" He watched as Link's face turned bright red. Link's eyes closed, as if in thought. When he opened them, there was no sign of his blush. In its place was a wistful look.

Link pondered, "The good old days… don't you miss them? At least things are better off now with the monsters struggling and Ganondorf banished."

Groose never had a chance to comment. The historical program on TV suddenly switched off and was replaced with the old Hyrulian Royal Crest (consisting of the Triforce and a Loftwing) and a recording of Zelda's Lullaby at such a volume that it made even Groose's music from before seem silent. After Link and Groose had covered their ears and looked at the screen, a live image of Zelda sitting inside some sort of high-tech control room appeared. The men in the store gave salutes, and Zelda nodded. This nod was a sign that she could see them.

Zelda spoke, "We have a mission for you. Six Moblins have hijacked a Wal-Mart Super Store in Virginia. I suggest you get over there and clear them out. Fortunately, the store was closed and empty-nobody has seen them yet, other than my senses. Unless you see any witnesses at the scene there will be no need for memory clearing. I'll wipe the store's security cameras remotely after you're finished. By the way, I suggest that you try to find out what they're doing there. Ghirahim usually only deploys his troops with motives... and for some reason, I don't think he's after cheap human goods."

While Link's reply was a simple nod, Groose attempted to get in a word by saying, "Well, you're lucky you have the big guns on call. It's been over a week from our last mission, and we're well rested. You're probably jumping for joy in your mind that I'm available. Actually, I'm available in two ways: heroism and romantically. Take you pick!" After his statement, he played with his hair and smiled hopefully.

Zelda wasn't one to let Groose have the final word. She replied, "I'll take just business for now. And for your knowledge, I don't consider you my top agents. The sages, the real top agents, are currently in Hawaii battling the dragon Volvagia. It broke loose this morning and destroyed half a town. It's only because they have their hands full that you and that blunderer past his prime are being sent in anyway."

Link looked a bit stricken at Zelda calling him a 'blunderer past his prime', but Groose looked unabashed. He responded, "Keep telling yourself that, Zelda. You know we're the best you've got. How many times did we save your life and the kingdom back in the day? Anyway, would you be interested in a date after I heroically defeat these Moblins with my herculean, or should I say 'Groosean' strength?"

Zelda's only response was a scowl. The TV shut off and Groose ran to lock the front door and label the store as closed. Link pulled out his ocarina and played a short ditty, and suddenly, the duo was garbed in their traditional gear from Ancient Hyrule. Both of the heroes took time to make final adjustments or grab anything they needed before meeting up once again in the back room of the store.

Groose mused, "Well, Zelda didn't say no to a date. I suppose that means we're on. I'll call her after I finish up with these Moblins."

Link looked at him skeptically, and then stated, "Groose. Sometimes silence speaks louder than words. We've been friends for thousands of years, yet I haven't taught you that yet?"

As Link played a warp song on the Ocarina of Time and the two men started to fade from the store, Groose said, "You've tried to tell me that. But in my book, the more you talk the better. It keeps things more interesting. I've also heard you say, 'Gee, it sure is boring around here.' I just try to keep thing interesting."

**A/N: So this chapter is done. This is more of an indicator to my writing style and how things will play out than the first chapter. Next comes a brief action scene, and I believe it should be decent. Reviews make the author happy. I could use feedback on this chapter more than most. Did I do a good job with Groose's personality from what I've typed so far? I've never written anything for a character so… arrogant and flirtatious. Also, you may have noticed that Link talks. To keep him more like the character from the games, I will attempt to make him fairly taciturn. If you didn't notice, Groose did most of the talking this chapter. While it won't always be Groose in the spotlight, I'll try to keep it so that Link doesn't get thrown front and center into chains of dialogue. Characters such as Zelda, Ghirahim, and… another will take that role. **


End file.
